exploring 3d, AR, and VR

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard about the technological advances that are virtual and augmented versions of reality. Virtual Reality glasses started off as something only your nerdy neighbor who never leaves his house owned. Now the glasses versions of VR are made by multiple different users such as Sony and Xbox.

However, as Augmented Reality begins to pave the way of virtual world, it is giving VR a run for it’s money. Soon, augmented reality will be the only form of glasses that are being produced, I’ll tell you why.

Virtual vs. Augmented

Virtual reality creates or mimics a real life scenario when putting on the glasses. Most of them are pixelated so although they may be pretty clear, you can tell that you are in the world of a video game. Great for putting yourself into already produced video games to really enhance the experience.

Augmented Reality is a technology that is smart enough to layer 3-D computer graphics on existing reality in order to make it more meaningful to the user. For example, you can open the palm of your hand and an animated bird can fly onto the tip of your finger. Sounds a lot like an episode of Black Mirror.

How AR is passing VR

AR has already begin to make appearances on everyday devices such as cell phone apps. Snapchat’s use of filters and stickers are 3D elements that you are able to layer onto a photo of existing reality. Facebook has recently even announced that it will be the first camera platform for augmented reality.

The future horizons of AR

Augmented Reality will soon be able to be applied to industries across the map. The world of medicine is already looking into AR to use in more remote surgeries. It has already been tested effective on many patients with PTSD.

Retail is also going to get a lot more colorful once AR get’s a hold of the online shopping world. Soon users will be able to ‘try on’ items and see how they would look on their body in reality before purchasing. This may also mean a decrease in clothing prices because users are quicker to buy online without trying on.

Educational sources will be vastly improved by AR because of it’s eye grabbing animation. Boring textbooks will soon be a thing of the past as AR takes the classroom into an interactive (video game) learning environment. This may also aid kids who have trouble focusing in class thus leading into more research into ADHD.

It’s here already

After the success of the ultra-popular, interactive Pokemon Go, we can see that Augmented Reality is here to stay in society. Be sure to strap on your virtual seatbelt because this phenomenon is sure to expand beyond video games.